


Let Me See With Your Eyes

by Mad_Muse_Musings



Series: Femslash Takeover [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2014-05-10
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1591499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Muse_Musings/pseuds/Mad_Muse_Musings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pepper is a rich tutor and Natasha is the poor foreign student from Russia. They shouldn't be friends, but they are. So when Natasha says she wants to see the country, naturally Pepper thinks it's a fabulous idea and they set out for a Summer adventure, but things get complicated quickly.</p><p>Written for Femslash takeover prompt: August - Road Trip</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me See With Your Eyes

Pepper had taken a job as an English as a second language tutor her junior year of college in an attempt to flesh out her resume for graduate school. It was an excellent idea and her parents were totally on board until Natasha Romanov ended up in Pepper’s tutoring group. Which lead to them becoming thick as thieves, the poor Russian girl and the well-off tutor (Pepper had watched porn with Tony that started the same way, or at least similarly enough to know why her parents were a bit perturbed).

 “I want to see the country.” Natasha murmured one day while they were sitting on the couch in the student lounge, sharing a cup of coffee between them.

“Where exactly do you want to see?” Pepper asked.

“Everywhere. All of it.” Natasha answered.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

“Sorry?”

“Let’s take a road trip. You and me, across the country, this summer.”

**~1~**

The drive to New York wasn’t long from the campus, and they mostly fought over what radio station to listen to. Until Pepper’s mother called. Natasha sat curled up in the front seat, trying to make herself as small as possible while Pepper’s mother screamed at her through car speakers.

“What the hell do you think you are doing, Virginia? Taking off for the summer on some half-baked plan, not discussing it with your father or myself. And going with that _girl_. Virginia Potts, you are not running around the country with that miscreant for the summer. Do you understand me? You will turn the car around and come home this instant.”

Pepper kept her eyes on the road, merging into the heavy traffic of the city while she listened to her mother’s lecture, before she sighed. “I am taking the summer off and driving around the country with Natasha. I understand you don’t approve of my decision, but it is _my_ decision, mother. I’ll see you when we come back home at the end of the summer.”

“Virginia, turn that car around right this second!” Her mother squawked.

“Good bye, mother. See you in about three months.” Pepper said before pressing the button on her steering wheel to end the call.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Natasha murmured.

“It’s fine.” Pepper answered, glancing at Natasha quickly. “Hey, get comfortable, we have about another hour in the car before we get to the hotel for tonight.”

“I’m okay.” Natasha answered quietly, only reaching forward to turn the radio back on, putting it on Pepper’s selected station, and curling back up in her seat, and effectively ending any conversation that they may have had.

Natasha was quiet the rest of the drive and when they checked into the hotel, Pepper passing over a credit card for two nice rooms, Natasha simply flinched at the price, but didn’t argue. Pepper passed her a key card for her to enter the room and unlocked the door that linked their two rooms.

“What do you want to do for dinner tonight? Tomorrow we are going to go watch a show on Broadway, and then maybe we can do some walking around and shopping.” Pepper said, leaning on the doorframe of the connector while Natasha neatly tucked her bag of clothes under the bed.

“Whatever you would like.” Natasha said with a tight smile.

Pepper sighed. “If this is going to be weird now, I can just give you a credit card and the car and let you go yourself.”

Natasha shook her head. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“It will be fine, Natasha. What do you want for dinner?”

“Whatever you would like, Pepper.” Natasha said with a stronger smile, sitting on the bed.

Pepper nodded and grabbed a room service menu, tossing it to Natasha. “Call in your order, don’t worry about how much it costs.”

Natasha heard the words but didn’t quite believe them as she caught the menu and ended up just ordering a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of water, cringing at the fact that it was more than five dollars for the two items. Pepper came into the room after the food was delivered, a tray that held a large salad and an even larger bowl of fruit on it, in her hands. She looked at Natasha’s own tray sitting on the bed and frowned.

“That’s all you got?”

Natasha nodded, carefully unwrapping the plastic from around the sandwich.

“I told you to get whatever, Tasha.” Pepper said, sitting down on the bedside her and putting her own tray down before grabbing the remote and finding some inane show for them to watch. When they were both finished and tired, Pepper went to her own room and Natasha curled up into the sheets.

The following day, when Pepper handed her the ticket for the Broadway show, Natasha cringed again, but didn’t say anything. And when Pepper took her in and out of boutiques to shop, Natasha let her play dress up, but never showed how much she liked anything Pepper put her in. She didn’t want Pepper to spend more money on her.

**~2~**

The drive to Chicago was peppered with stops at other cities on the way, but when they got there, Pepper once again paid for everything, and Natasha was twitchy now when she went into her room.

“What’s wrong?” Pepper asked, grabbing the room service menu and tossing it to Natasha.

“I can’t pay you back.” Natasha looked down. “Not with money anyway.”

Pepper locked up at looked at her friend. “Natasha, what are you talking about? I want to be here, this is fun, seeing the country with you.”

“I know nothing comes free in life.” Natasha murmured.

Pepper just left, locking the door that connected their rooms. Natasha sighed but was kind of thankful that Pepper wouldn’t be joining her for dinner so she could get away with not ordering anything.

In the morning, Pepper woke her up with admission tickets to two museums, and Natasha tallied how much more she was in the red.

**~3~**

By the time they reached San Francisco, Natasha was regretting ever bringing up the desire to see the country. The amount of red she was occurring in her ledger was frightening, and if her time as a foster child in Russia taught her anything, it was that the more you owed someone the more they would eventually take.

Which is why she stopped Pepper from book her a separate room. And how they found themselves in the situation they were in with Pepper throwing clothing back at Natasha wish tears streaming down her face. “Put your clothes back on.” Pepper begged.

“I can’t repay you!” Natasha yelled back, pulling her pants and t-shirt back on. She had her own tears streaming down her face.

“I don’t need you to repay me, Tasha! I want to be your friend. Friends do this stuff for each other, particularly when one friend is trying to get back at her parents who ignored her for most of her life, by spending their money.” Pepper had her knees pulled up to her chip now.

Natasha sank to the floor, her back to the wall. “I have to repay you.”

“No, you don’t!” Pepper screamed.

That night Natasha slept on the floor of Pepper’s room, despite Pepper trying to get her a room.

**~4~**

Las Vegas is the first time they really talk about it.

Natasha stopped her from getting a second room again, but this time it’s different. She lets Pepper order dinner for both of them, but tells her they can’t eat until after they talk, she doesn’t want to hold Pepper’s hair when she throws up.

“I don’t want you to look at me when I tell you this.” Natasha explained sitting on the bed but not looking at Pepper.

“Okay.” Pepper agreed, getting comfortable leaning against the headboard, her legs open, before she pulled Natasha to sit between them, wrapping her arms around her. “This way you don’t have to see me, but I can still hang on to you.”

So Natasha explained to Pepper how she would earn her keep by having sex when she was passed from family to family. How if she wouldn’t they would with-hold food and other necessities from her. That the reason she had money to go to University was because she slept with a politician and blackmailed him, but it didn’t leave enough money for her to really live on.

And instead of running, Pepper tightened her hold on Natasha and pressed light kisses to the side of her head. “Shh, it’s okay. The past is the past. You never have to do that again. I only want you to sleep with me if you _want_ to sleep with me. Not because you feel like you need to pay me back, or anything else, but because you really want to, because you love me even a fraction of as much as I love you.”

Natasha broke apart with that, turning to hide her face in Pepper’s neck to cry.

When the food came, Pepper cut the steak up she had ordered for Natasha and carefully fed her pieces. “Let me take care of you, Natasha.”

Natasha pushed the last tears off her face and nodded. “O – okay.”

**~5~**

New Orleans was their last stop before heading home, at least officially. There would be more stops between the city and Connecticut, Ocean City at Natasha’s request, and a few others.

But New Orleans would always be special.

Pepper got them a room at a historic bed and breakfast and Natasha dug deep in her bag for the lingerie that she would normally only use when she had to. But in New Orleans she was determined to give the clothing better memories.

She was laying on the bed in a black lace baby doll when Pepper came in from taking their dinner dishes down to the kitchen.

“Oh wow.” She breathed out.

Natasha smiled. “I want you. I want to have sex with you, because I trust you, more than I have ever trusted any one.”

Pepper was on the bed, hovering over Natasha in a flash, bending down to press kisses along her jaw and lips. “Yes, oh god yes. I love you.”

Natasha trembled a little, tears brimming in her eyes. “I think, no. I know. I love you too.”


End file.
